[gippy]

hi,
i want to have a go at wrapping the grill surrounds myself, to keep things cheap, see how it goes, and because i'm stuck indoors...

my choice is gloss carbon.

can anyone provide links/recommend the vinyl wrap i should use for this?

[Billfitz]

Gloss carbon may end up looking bad in short order. I wrapped my mirror covers, B pillar and C pillar trim with textured CF, mainly because I was tired of having to polish the pillar trim every six months to rid them of spider webbing. I wrapped this mirror twp years ago, still looks good:
https://billfitzmaurice.info/images/BMW/Mirror.jpg

I used 3M DiNoc.

[nyc_dude]

There are several carbon fiber vinyl wraps. Some are glossy and some are matte/textured. Unless you go get a sample it is hard to choose. Go to a wrap shop and look at samples.

3M makes one with 180 in the part no. that is glossy 1x1. 3M DiNoc 1080 and now 2080, is matte and textured. Better used for interiors. When used for exteriors, it picks up dirt and is hard to clean.

Avery Dennison makes 2 types with 1005 and 1105 in the part number, 2x2 and 1x1.

Avoid a CF wrap for the kidney grill surrounds. Just buy grills already done on ebay.
I recommend the double slat black M3/M4 style kidney grilles. May sure they are glossy black for the surrounds and slats. My slats were matte black and I had to have them repainted gloss.

Any CF wrap will never match any real CF parts you add.

Need a project?

royalsteeringwheel.com in the UK.

M3 full carbon fiber interior

M4 rear spoiler

Rear Diffuser

Red or Blue Start Button

Ceramic Coat your wheels

Custom Paint your engine cover to match your body color.

Cheers

[gippy]

well i rolled the dice with ebay - bought this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5-Diagona...72.m2749.l2649

ebay sellers label the carbon wrap '3d, 4d, 5d' etc...seems to relate to the varying amount of gloss based on the pictures. I went for 5D - only £11.

Followed the Kies motorsport wrap guide here:

tools needed: scoring knife, heat gun (or decent hairdryer i guess), basic level of arts and crafts flair.

Results: Super happy

In an ideal world i'd get them painted in the body colour but the UK has shut down. For now this has got rid of the eyesore chrome and i can finally look at the front of my car without feeling annoyed

Up close you can obviously tell it's wrap but i'm not fussed. Still better than chrome.
If i were to do it again, i'd try and find the glossiest carbon wrap possible, so there's a thicker layer of gloss - but don't know if it'd be malleable enough.

I found this stuff which is probably the best thing to get, i'll probably order this when the world economy starts again.
https://www.metrorestyling.com/Avery...005glosscf.htm

The end.













Comparison to chrome

[Billfitz]

FWIW 4D and 5D is advertising piffle. 2D is length and width only, 3D adds depth. 4D adds the fourth dimension, which according to Rod Serling is time. The Fifth Dimension was a 1960s vocal group.

[gippy]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

FWIW 4D and 5D is advertising piffle. 2D is length and width only, 3D adds depth. 4D adds the fourth dimension, which according to Rod Serling is time. The Fifth Dimension was a 1960s vocal group.

Originally Posted by gippy

seems to relate to the varying amount of gloss based on the pictures

it might be that its advertising nonsense, but that is irrelevant in this particular case, on this particular link, as explained above.

youve made no useful contribution to this thread.

[Billfitz]

It is relevant as if you compare in person what's called 3D, 4D and 5D, even 6D and 7D, each source has their own definition of what it means. It's not difficult to do so, as many sources have small sample sizes available for comparison, some even give them away. I've had samples of 3D from one company that had more gloss and depth than samples of 5D from another.